1986 Amnesty Bill Informs Today's Immigration Debate

On Fronteras: The legacy of the 1986 immigration reform bill is playing a big role in the current debate over how to overhaul the nation's immigration system. You may have heard about sending immigrants to "the back of the line" when it comes to a path to citizenship, but what does that line actually look like? We hear about Navajo singer Radmilla Cody, who has been nominated for her first Grammy, and a powerful profile of a Havasupai medicine woman and her gift for healing.

The last time Congress passed a major immigration bill, one of its goals was to stop the flow of undocumented migrants across the border. Instead, it seemed to have the opposite effect: illegal immigration surged. Today, the legacy of that 1986 bill is a critical part of the immigration debate. From San Diego, Adrian Florido reports.

Both the Senate and the President’s proposals for immigration reform agree the pathway begins in the “back of the line” — behind everyone who’s legally waiting. But, it turns out, there isn’t one line; there are many lines. For some families, the wait is so long it’s going back in time. From the Fronteras Desk, John Rosman explains.

Mural Artist Jetsonorama's image of Radmilla Cody at the old Cow Springs Trading Post on the Navajo Nation.

Radmilla Cody has been nominated for her first Grammy, and she will likely turn heads at the ceremony Sunday in Los Angeles wearing traditional Navajo dress and moccasins. But the former Miss Navajo has never been afraid to stand out in a crowd. From the Changing America Desk in Flagstaff, Laurel Morales reports.

Despite the ups and downs of a precarious publishing business, Arizona Highways magazine remains an iconic institution. Laurel Morales followed members of the editorial staff into the Grand Canyon to profile a Havasupai medicine woman for the March issue, and to learn how the magazine has survived for more than eight decades.